From that same 1999 season:

Stations turning down Reds playoff games

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        ESPN is looking for an over-the-air outlet to carry Reds games in the event they make the playoffs as a wild-card team.

        "They offered it to us," Channel 9 General Manager Bill Fee said. "We’re not interested."

        The problem for Channel 9 and any other station is pre-empting network programming to put the games on.

        Bill Pulliam of Channel 64 isn’t interested either.

        "It comes at a bad time," he said. "We’ll be premiering our new WB shows. If it was one or two shows, we’d consider it, but almost our whole lineup is new."

        "We’re taking a look at it," Channel 19 General Manager Jon Lawhead said. "It’s difficult to pre-empt the network."

        The games ESPN is offering are at 1 p.m., 4 or 11.

        The network also is charging a fee to show the games. It could run anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000.

        The package isn’t overly attractive because the station that gets the game is not the exclusive carrier. ESPN also will broadcast the game.

        Only about 60 percent of local households get cable.